IiIT8 AND ISITTING. 133 



he will either poke out Lis nose or creep back beliincl 

 the. bit, sometimes ■with very serious cousequeiices 

 as : reaving, bolting, plunging, etc. If the mouth- 

 piece is too narrow it compresses and chafes the 

 lips, and by displacing them so that the folds 

 cover the bars, the direct action of the bit on the 

 lattr-r is neutralizt'd, and the horse becomes numb 

 in the mouth. 



The width of the purl, which in most bits we see 

 is from one-half to one inch too wide, must corre- 

 spond exactly with the width of the tongue-channel 

 at the })oiut opposite the chin groove, and which is 

 exactly one and a third inches. This being the 

 ju'oper place where the mouthpiece should rest in 

 tlie horse's mouth, the width of the port, therefore, 

 should be the same, viz : one and one-third inches, 

 or, even slightly loss, say : one and one-quarter in- 

 ches, to avoid bruising the bars as mentioned above. 

 The sole purpose of the port being to make room 

 for the tongue, its height should not exceed five- 

 t'iirhths of an inch, as being sutHcicnt for any horse. 

 The higher the port, the greater the danger of 

 injuring the roof of the mouth when pressure is 

 brought upon the reins, and of making the horse 

 restive. 



Horses' mouths are very difi'erent in formation 

 and size, but the heighth of a horse's bars is nearly 



